Gay Subtext in Old Movies (2024)

I was reading a book about Stanley Kubrick, and it said that he wanted one of the male characters in The Killing to be in love with the Sterling Hayden character, but the censors made him tone it down

Can you think of any other production code era movies with gay undertones?

by Anonymousreply 82June 4, 2020 7:27 PM

Rebecca, All About Eve, anything with Clifton Webb

by Anonymousreply 1April 8, 2020 11:07 PM

The Maltese Falcon!!

by Anonymousreply 2April 8, 2020 11:12 PM

May I direct you to THE encyclopedia of gays in film, "The Celluloid Closet," by the late, great Vito Russo.

Also check out the documentary of the same name.

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by Anonymousreply 3April 8, 2020 11:22 PM

In Laura, Clifton Webb acted like he wanted to BE Laura

by Anonymousreply 4April 8, 2020 11:50 PM

I just watched a great 1950s noir called "The Big Combo." Two of the bad guy characters played by Earl Holliman and Lee Van Cleef were clearly gay. They both shared a bedroom (separate beds, of course), and in one scene, when they're victims of a bombing and Lee Van Cleef is mortally injured, Earl Holliman cries and wails.

by Anonymousreply 5April 9, 2020 12:39 AM

In DESERT FURY (1947), the gay subtext practically becomes text.

Here's how gangster Eddie (John Hodiak) tells of meeting his "partner" Johnny (Wendell Corey): "It was in the automat off Times Square at two in the morning. I was broke. He had a couple of dollars. We got to talking. He ended up paying for my ham and eggs. I went home with him that night. We were together from then on."

In the same movie, you also have Mary Astor as the very butch mother of Lizabeth Scott.

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by Anonymousreply 6April 9, 2020 1:11 AM

Of course's there's "Gilda" (1946):

[quote]Johnny: This way you'll have two friends. You've no idea how faithful and obedient I can be... for a nice salary.

[quote]Balin: This I must be sure of: that there's no woman anywhere.

[quote]Johnny: There's no woman anywhere.

[quote]Balin: Gambling and women do not mix.

[quote]Johnny: Those are the very words I use myself. Now shall we quit talking about it?

[quote]Balin: There was one once.

[quote]Johnny: Get this, Mr. Mundson. I was born last night, when you met me in that alley. That way I'm no past and all future, see? And I like it that way.

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by Anonymousreply 7April 9, 2020 1:21 AM

The Big Sky with Kirk Douglas and Dewey Martin. Nothing is really in the screenplay, but the tension is just there on the screen.

by Anonymousreply 8April 9, 2020 1:27 AM

The Big Sky with Kirk Douglas and Dewey Martin. Nothing is really in the screenplay, but the tension is just there on the screen.

by Anonymousreply 9April 9, 2020 1:27 AM

John Ireland & Montgomery Clift play with each others' guns in Red River

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by Anonymousreply 10April 9, 2020 1:30 AM

He’s just a dandy lion.

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by Anonymousreply 11April 9, 2020 1:43 AM

R3 I never truly liked Jon Stewart, didn't hate him, but always found him glib and condesending. The year he hosted the Oscars was the year of Brokeback and they had a montage of westerns where there appeared to be gay subtext in all the clips and I saw him later in an interview claiming to have just remembered westerns being the gayest things ever and that's where he'd gotten the idea. I was like bitch you just watched the Celluloid Closet and ripped it off. Knew then I finally was sure he was a fucking phony.

by Anonymousreply 12April 9, 2020 1:52 AM

Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train and Rope.

by Anonymousreply 13April 9, 2020 1:56 AM

Captain Renault in Casablanca clearly had a thing for Rick.

by Anonymousreply 14April 9, 2020 2:33 AM

There are thousands of example, famous and obscure, but to take off on the OP's example, I'm not sure there's ever been enough attention paid to the consistent homoeroticism in Kubrick's movies. The way his camera fastens on Malcolm McDowell's bum in Clockwork Orange, or how Ryan O'Neal is shot in Barry Lyndon, Tommy in Eyes Wide Shut....the list goes on. And lots of camp/gay characters used as comic relief. I have a strong suspicion Kubrick was a repressed homo, and I think it also plays a not inconsiderable role in the appeal his movies have to certain "straight" guys (as is the case with contemp movies like Fight Club).

by Anonymousreply 15April 9, 2020 2:41 AM

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. The two bounty hunters were gay but it is never explicitly said, IMDB confirms it though. "It was Robert Webber's idea for his and Gig Young's characters to be ambiguously gay. Sam Peckinpah supported this. "

by Anonymousreply 16April 9, 2020 4:10 AM

Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes (1938)

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by Anonymousreply 17April 9, 2020 4:28 AM

Maggie couldn't just come out and say in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.

by Anonymousreply 18April 9, 2020 4:29 AM

Maggie couldn't just come out and say in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.

by Anonymousreply 19April 9, 2020 4:29 AM

I had mixed feelings about The Celluloid Closet.

It was very groundbreaking for its time, but Russo wanted all gay men to be portrayed in a certain way. i remember he grouped in any characters played as sissies as necessarily clearly gay (which i don't think is true) and therefore a homophobic presentation of gay men, and he thought whenever a cartoon character like Bugs Bunny got up in drag to fool someone like Elmer Fudd or Yosemite Sam by being a sexy female rabbit, that meant the writers were being homophobic. I just didn't agree with those readings back then, nor do I now.

I still hugely respect Vito Russo for the pioneering work he did, though.

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by Anonymousreply 20April 9, 2020 4:36 AM

My favorite gay subtext movie, which is practically text, is Howard Hughes production of the outlaw, where in there is a love triangle between Doc Holliday, Billy the kid and Pat Garrett, wherein Pat Garrett is best friends with Doc Holliday until Billy the kid comes in the picture; Billy and Doc flirt like crazy, leaving Pat madder than a wet hen.

I'm not doing it justice; it must be seen to be believed.

And while Jane Russell is supposedly the love interest, and she does sleep with Billy the kid eventually, the romance is clearly among the three male leads.

by Anonymousreply 21April 9, 2020 4:44 AM

Ben Hur

by Anonymousreply 22April 9, 2020 4:48 AM

22 answers and...

You're forgetting me.

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by Anonymousreply 23April 9, 2020 6:49 AM

Are we, Mrs. Danvers? Are we?

by Anonymousreply 24April 9, 2020 6:52 AM

I wonder what classic films would have been like if not for the Hays Code. Imagine Cary Grant and Tyrone Power doing gay love scenes.

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by Anonymousreply 25April 9, 2020 6:53 AM

I am a subtext.

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by Anonymousreply 26April 9, 2020 7:02 AM

You're going to hear a lot about MALTESE FALCON, ROPE, SPARTACUS; REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE

THE HAUNTING and DRACULA'S DAUGHTER had overtly lesbian characters amazingly, though the P.C.A. forced some changes on DAUGHTER.

Here is the famous Tony Curtis, snail-swallowing scene that got cut from SPARTACUS:

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by Anonymousreply 27April 9, 2020 7:03 AM

There's a Gary Cooper western from the 1940s, called "The Virginian". Cooper's character starts out as enemies with the local hanging judge, but they start to get friendly as the film goes on, and then they get drunk... and wake up in bed together. Fully clothed, of course, but still. Two men crammed on top of each other in a twin bed, claiming they dont remember the previous night, and haven't we all done that?

Cooper made a lot of homoerotic westerns, including the love-hate relationship with Burt Lancaster in movie "Vera Cruz".

by Anonymousreply 28April 9, 2020 9:03 AM

I completely understand Kubrick's wanting to use Sterling Hayden as the object of gay desire. He was a gorgeous, big manly man. Ex-Marine. Great career, great body. Last time I saw him in a film, though, Michael Corleone shot him in the forehead in a restaurant.

by Anonymousreply 29April 9, 2020 10:10 AM

R29 Last time I saw Sterling Hayden in a film, he was Mr. Tinsworthy sending Franklin Hart off to the jungles of Brazil.

by Anonymousreply 30April 9, 2020 10:47 AM

R1 Who do you think was gay? Addison, Eve, or both? I know a lot of people think that Addison was gay, and he does code as gay, but his threat to Eve seems sexual. I think Eve was gay though. Her obsession with Marg borders on sexual and that scene in the boarding house.

R12 My stepdad loved westerns, and as a young gayling who never heard of The Celluloid Closter, found them gay as fuck.

by Anonymousreply 31April 9, 2020 10:57 AM

I loved the story of 1959's Ben Hur. Director William Wyler told Stephen Boyd to play his part as if he and Charlton Heston had once been lovers, but not to tell Heston, because Heston would have had a fit.

When you watch the movie, you see how Boyd looks into Heston's eyes like he wants to make out with him in almost every scene.

by Anonymousreply 32April 9, 2020 11:02 AM

Dracula's Daughter wants to "live a normal life now, think normal things."

But she has "cravings" . . .

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by Anonymousreply 33April 9, 2020 12:14 PM

[quote] practically text, is Howard Hughes’ production of THE OUTLAW, wherein there is a love triangle. Pat Garrett is best friends with Doc Holliday until Billy the Kid comes in the picture; Billy and Doc flirt like crazy, leaving Pat madder than a wet hen.

Gen Z & Y got a version of this movie. Only it was called YOUNG GUNS, was split into two parts, was soundtracked by hair-rock balladry and featured twice as many Regulators flirting with each other in anachronistic ways while dismissing the beautiful soiled doves flocking to them.

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by Anonymousreply 34April 9, 2020 12:50 PM

^^should have been Gen X & Y. I don’t think Zoomers have grown up with any Westerns at all.

by Anonymousreply 35April 9, 2020 12:51 PM

In The Dawn Patrol Errol Flynn and David Niven act like a married couple

by Anonymousreply 36April 9, 2020 6:12 PM

Robin Williams' dad character in Mrs. Doubtfire. Not the Doubtfire character, the dad. He has a GBF, can't hack his marriage, wants to play with dolls and makeup, older studio exec sees his "talent." Lives alone at the end. Dad was gay. Also see: Robin Williams in Hook.

by Anonymousreply 37April 9, 2020 6:17 PM

R37 Williams' GBF in that movie was his brother.

by Anonymousreply 38April 9, 2020 6:26 PM

Cary Grant in BRINGING UP BABY, directed by Howard Hawks (who also put him in drag for I WAS A MALE WAR BRIDE).

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by Anonymousreply 39April 9, 2020 6:51 PM

This is one of the gayest and funniest things I've seen for an old film. Oliver says "She thinks I like you more than I like her". Also starring the wonderful Mae Busch and Billy Gilbert.

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by Anonymousreply 40April 9, 2020 8:10 PM

Speaking of Laurel & Hardy, there's this moment from The March of the Wooden Soldiers, after they trick Barnaby into thinking he's marrying Bo-Peep when it's Laurel in disguise:

Ollie: Well, Good-bye and good luck.

Stan: What do you mean, good-bye? I'm not going with you?

Ollie: Why, no. You have to stay here with Barnaby. You're married to him.

Stan: [starting to cry] I don't want to stay here with him.

Ollie Dee: Why?

Stannie Dum: I don't love him.

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by Anonymousreply 41April 9, 2020 8:18 PM

[quote] Who do you think was gay? Addison, Eve, or both?

Don’t forget about Phoebe

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by Anonymousreply 42April 9, 2020 8:34 PM

joel mccrae "the sports parade" pre code

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by Anonymousreply 43April 9, 2020 8:47 PM

randy for cary, "my favorite wife"

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by Anonymousreply 44April 9, 2020 8:51 PM

R32 Stephen Boyd was smoking hot. A true dreamy

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by Anonymousreply 45April 9, 2020 9:05 PM

[R32]: Despite all the naysayers, including Heston, who denied any gay subtext in “Ben-Hur,” a look at the basic plot tells it all. In addition to all the longing looks Boyd gives Heston in their reunion scene, the fact is that Boyd is never seen in female company, but only with his Roman buddy, Drusus.

There’s even a domestic scene of the two of them at home, where Drusus is seated, reading a tablet, next to a table with a small wine cup, and restless Boyd is up, practicing with his bullwhip (!). Seeing an opportunity for fun, Boyd uses his whip to flick the cup off the table, vexing poor Drusus.

Drusus is also the one holding Boyd’s head during his agonizing death scene, the severity of which seems to be cut from recent broadcasts.

Reportedly, a number of cut scenes included Boyd using Roman lady Marina Berti to flummox Ben-Hur somehow, but they were removed before the film’s premier. (Though she is referred to in the original program as “Flavia, the Wanton, whose beauty was a trap set for Ben-Hur,” Berti’s part was whittled down to a mere glimpse, making her seem instead more like some kind of Roman debutante.)

by Anonymousreply 46April 9, 2020 9:17 PM

Also, a number of Martin and Lewis pictures presented them as sharing living quarters, even, in “Artists and Models” (1955), sleeping in adjoining twin beds, like many a married couple at the time, including my parents.

by Anonymousreply 47April 9, 2020 9:25 PM

Vincent Price's character in The Ten Commandments. He was very clearly into gay S&M. I watch it every year on the Saturday before Easter.

by Anonymousreply 48April 9, 2020 9:33 PM

How old a movie? "The Pizza Boy, he delivers" , "Big Guns" and "The Other Side of Aspen" are full of gay subtext....and they "Act" on it.

by Anonymousreply 49April 9, 2020 9:34 PM

Dr. Suess' The 5000 fingers of Doctor T...For an alleged kid's flick BTW

by Anonymousreply 50April 9, 2020 9:55 PM

Top Gun. Jarhead.

by Anonymousreply 51April 9, 2020 10:08 PM

Benny Hill’s character in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang always struck me as gay.

by Anonymousreply 52April 9, 2020 10:20 PM

Did anyone see The Sea-Wolf or read the book? A weakling bookish man is first rescued, then tormented by a powerful, cruel, brutish, hyper-masculine sea captain. I was only halfway watching it when I was home sick and dozing off and on, but it seemed to have the most blatant homosexual tension I'd ever seen in a film.

by Anonymousreply 53April 9, 2020 10:35 PM

R49 needs to learn the definition of the term "subtext."

by Anonymousreply 54April 9, 2020 10:40 PM

[quote] Martin and Lewis pictures presented them as sharing living quarters, even, in “Artists and Models” (1955), sleeping in adjoining twin beds, like many a married couple.

That’s a brotherly relationship, R47. Two bros who trade kisses and spend all their time together and cry when the other isn’t around, sharing a room sleeping mere feet apart cuz they’re not gay!

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by Anonymousreply 55April 9, 2020 10:53 PM

R46, I wonder whether it's obvious in the original book as well. In The Big Sleep, when Humphrey Bogart impersonates a persnickety gay book collector, he says he's looking for an illustrated edition of . . . Ben-Hur. The Big Sleep, of course, has a number of gay characters, including the blond, leather-jacketed boyfriend of blackmailer Arthur Gwynn Geiger.

by Anonymousreply 56April 9, 2020 10:55 PM

I think R49 was trying to make a funny, R54.

by Anonymousreply 57April 9, 2020 10:56 PM

"In The Dawn Patrol Errol Flynn and David Niven act like a married couple "

Oh, Niven and Flynn lived together in real life!

They shared a house for a while in the 1930s, when they were both bachelor contract players. In his autobiography Niven described Flynn as having the master bedroom and bringing an endless parade of women into it, and maybe that was the whole truth. Maybe the two of them came across as an old married couple because they were used to arguing over whose turn it was to do the dishes and who left their dirty shorts on the bathroom floor, maybe there was more to their time as "roommates". I'll never know.

by Anonymousreply 58April 9, 2020 11:49 PM

R50, I do remember the greased up elevator operator....

by Anonymousreply 59April 10, 2020 1:33 AM

How about this one?

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by Anonymousreply 60June 3, 2020 3:58 AM

R60 Lordy! Very little subtext there. Looks pretty much right out there.

by Anonymousreply 61June 3, 2020 12:40 PM

For a moment there, I thought R1 believed Clifton Webb was in Rebecca and All About Eve.

by Anonymousreply 62June 3, 2020 1:24 PM

[quote]It’s a long and difficult ride and no place for a girl. Come along Reggie.

Hahahahaha

by Anonymousreply 63June 3, 2020 1:33 PM

It's not really subtext in My Favorite Wife, it's text. There's a whole scene where Cary Grant is daydreaming about Randolph Scott shirtless and exercising. There were already rumors about them at the time so the scenes were pretty obviously meant to refer to those rumors.

by Anonymousreply 64June 3, 2020 1:34 PM

This one

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by Anonymousreply 65June 3, 2020 3:11 PM

bump

by Anonymousreply 66June 3, 2020 10:34 PM

R65 Is there a particular part of this movie we should look at? It's a pretty long film.

by Anonymousreply 67June 3, 2020 10:53 PM

The Birds. Even as a child I picked up on it.

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by Anonymousreply 68June 3, 2020 10:57 PM

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by Anonymousreply 69June 3, 2020 10:59 PM

In the Heat of the Night with Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, so very gay. You literally think they'll kiss each other on the train station at the end.

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by Anonymousreply 70June 3, 2020 11:05 PM

I love The Killing! Which character was supposed to be in love with Sterling? Was it the wimpy married guy? Vince Edwards was SO fucking hot.

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by Anonymousreply 71June 3, 2020 11:11 PM

R49 & R51 -- it's there in OP's question about "production code era" movies.

It's interesting that subtext in the production code era came about because in the pre-Code era, it was right there, in the text. When Mae West visits her boyfriend in jail, she sees two men sharing the same cell. Standing at the bars cheek to cheek, Mae says, "Oh the Cherry Sisters." A non-judgmental appreciation for their sexuality, a nod to a vaudeville act, and and a saucy delivery. My favorite.

by Anonymousreply 72June 3, 2020 11:22 PM

Don't forget Diamonds are Forever -- Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd are portrayed as gay as can be. In the last scene, when Bond throws Mr Wint overboard, he grabs him by the balls, and Mr. Wint smiles as broadly and happily as he can before he dies.

Interestingly, the last two times I saw that movie on the TV, the censors cut that two seconds from the film.

by Anonymousreply 73June 3, 2020 11:32 PM

Johnny Eager...Van Heflin’s character was supposedly in love with Robert Taylor’s Johnny.

by Anonymousreply 74June 3, 2020 11:38 PM

r71, it was the Jay C. Flippen character

by Anonymousreply 75June 3, 2020 11:40 PM

Oh, honey.

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by Anonymousreply 76June 3, 2020 11:48 PM

I didn't realize Ray from [italic]Archer[/italic] was based on a pre-existing character, R76!

by Anonymousreply 77June 4, 2020 2:56 AM

R10 - HOLY SMOKES! Found the exact scene you were referencing. It's... surprisingly hot. The way John Ireland looks at Montgomery Clift on the "Swiss watch" line... woof!

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by Anonymousreply 78June 4, 2020 3:27 AM

Thanks for posting that r78. He was beautiful. Both of them.

Reminds me that I know next to nothing about John Ireland.

Did I see his name on one of those "actors with huge cocks " lists?

by Anonymousreply 79June 4, 2020 9:22 AM

R76, the actor playing the tailor for some reason is not listed in any credits online, but the assistant tailor is. Wonder what's up with that?

by Anonymousreply 80June 4, 2020 12:11 PM

[Can you think of any other production code era movies with gay undertones?]

Why are you looking at me?

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by Anonymousreply 81June 4, 2020 12:25 PM

Yes, r79. Ireland was well known for his "special talent."

by Anonymousreply 82June 4, 2020 7:27 PM
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